HelP trimming goat feet

I just bought a goat - with out looking at her first. Silly of me, but I was having an impulsive moment Anyhow, her feet are AWFUL and need a trim to the extent that I don't know I am capable of. I am wondering if anyone near me haens to be more exerienced with this and would like to make a few dollars helping me out?

I would help but it's kind of a big trip!

If you can get someone to help you hold her, you can probably do it yourself. I think we actually used a new pair of the side cutting wire cutters for our goat hooves, they are easy to use and seemed to do the trick. If you trim away a little bit at a time every 2-3 weeks it might be a nice gradual adjustment for the girl.

Wish I was closer to help out. I used to trim our nannys feet with my horse hoof nippers. She had horribly long hooves when we bought her and they would grow super fast. I had to trim her feet pretty much monthly to keep them in good shape. Good luck and hope someone close can help you out!!

I learned to trim sheep feet from on line advice. Somewhere it suggested looking at a lamb's feet and trying to replicate that. The advice to do a bit at a time is good advice. Really almost any trim will be a help, then you will get braver as you go.

Good luck!

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Wow, thanks for that great 'How-to'! And thanks to Heidi for being such a great model! New goats feet are MUCH worse than Heidies and yes, she is being dewormed today and vaccinations in the near future. poor girl. I hope I can give her a better home than she's had.

I use straight edge pruning shears for doing my goats feet. Less expensive than the specialized hoof trimmers, they perform just as well.

They have quicks like other animals feet, so you have to ensure you don't cut too much at once.

Northwest Packgoat Association does sell goat trimmers if you feel the desire to buy special ones.

We went and got some nice sharp new tin snips and had a go at her feet yesterday. It was a bit like cutting rock at some points, but we got them down a bit. I trimmed untill I could see pink welling up underneath, but they are still not near what they should be. Will this quick evenutally recede back to where it should be so I can trim off more?

We fostered a goat with neglected hooves so bad the spca was concerned he might not recover. We had to take them down a bit at a time, and yes, over time they do recede, allowing you to slowly trim more length off.